The president’s decision to stop calling
terrorists who claim to represent Islam “Islamic extremists” was certainly an
understandable and intellectually honest attempt to both deny a source of
legitimacy to violent terrorists in the Middle East, and to help discourage
unintended consequences at home in the form of discrimination against Muslims
that follows from the dangerous conflation of the Islamic faith and terrorism. Unfortunately, our present polarized,
anti-intellectual political environment isn’t well suited for such lawyerly hair-splitting,
no matter how good and laudable the intensions.

I suggest we consider adopting a label
for these terrorists that serves to both accurately identify them and to
discredit their transparently dishonest claim to religious authority. Maybe we could start calling them “Anti-Islamic
terrorists?” While dropping any reference
to Islam might obscure the matter in problematic ways, labeling them “anti-Islamists”
prompts the speaker and hearer to follow up if there is any confusion. If every mention of these terrorists actually
begged more precise consideration of their claim to legitimacy, and highlighted
the realization that Muslims are peace loving people of a faith being
desecrated by violent pretenders, wouldn’t that be a sort of win-win? Couldn’t
that, in fact, raise the level of public discourse by reducing opportunities
for misinformation, over-simplification, and the all too common conflation of
the Islamic faith and terrorism?

Labeling opponents “anti-whatever” has a
long and distinguished pedigree in America. I’m sure the “antifederalists” thought of themselves as defenders of
federalism rightly understood. Given
that these terrorists have clearly hijacked an honorable faith tradition for
clearly dishonorable purposes, I hardly think those who might quibble with the
“anti-Islamic” label would have a leg to stand on. It doesn’t obscure; it promotes illumination.
It doesn’t tacitly condone the terrorists’ duplicity; it exposes it and even
prompts thoughtful consideration that could lead to more thoughtful action.

Finally, by labeling these terrorists “anti-Islamic”
we might create space for “Pro-Islamic” forces (possibly even labeled as such) to wield
legitimate claims of religious authority in the worldwide battle against terrorism.